Using special cameras, multispectral imaging is another tool used by scientists to date ancient documents.

Photograph by Gene A. Ware

Samples of the document were also subjected to Multispectral Imaging (MSI) tests, performed in Switzerland by Gene A. Ware of Brigham Young University's MSI lab in Utah.

To perform an MSI test, scientists capture numerous images of the same subject matter using several different ranges of light wavelengths or frequencies.

The Judas papyruses responded to MSI in much the same way that confirmed ancient papyruses have.

Ink samples were also subjected to the MSI. They displayed similar characteristics to those of ancient iron-gall or carbon-based inks from the third or fourth century.

The ink sample that was tested contained two corrections that were subjected to particular scrutiny under the MSI test. The inks used to pen these corrections were also found to be consistent with third- or fourth-century A.D. inks. In addition, the corrections appear to have been made soon after the original was completed.

Like the other evidence, physical and contextual, the MSI results reveal what appears to be an authentic Egyptian document from the third- or fourth-century A.D.